


Quite Simply A Natural High

by Solitary Stargazer (trinhle130797)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Multi, Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 13:48:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18779518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trinhle130797/pseuds/Solitary%20Stargazer
Summary: What if both Steve Rogers and Howard Stark fell under water on that fateful mission? Imagine a world without Iron Man....?





	Quite Simply A Natural High

**Author's Note:**

> Um...I might or might not have fallen a little in love with Howard Stark the uncertain dad?

**** It’s the year 2010, and Harry Potter the Savior of the Wizarding World is bored out of his goddamn mind. 

 

To understand why, we must first delve deep into his memories, back to July of 2003, when Harry Potter was piss-arse drunk, on his fifth Firewhiskey bottle - to be precise, as he was moping about his pathetic life.

 

* * *

 

It was 2003, and six years had passed since that traumatic day at Hogwarts, and it seemed everyone had moved on…except him. Ron and Hermione were happily married with two children, Luna and Neville, both Professors at Hogwarts, were on a research sabbatical in Colombia, Fred and George recently celebrated the opening of their first store in China…

 

Ginny… _his_ Ginny…the one he thought was **his** One…had been promoted to Team Captain of the Holly Harpies six months ago, and had since led them to victory at the European Quidditch Championship. He saw her on the telly accepting the Cup, and she was just as heartbreakingly beautiful as ever…she just didn’t belong to him anymore. And neither he to her. They still kept in touch, but it was clear to the two of them, and everyone who was in the know, that their respective paths had long diverged to a point of irreconcilability. 

 

These days, Harry regarded at his closest friends with envy, and himself with self-derision. They fought just and hard and lost just as much, but it seemed like they’d never had any issue slotting their lives back into the pattern resembling normalcy. Harry'd tried so hard to do the same, but it seemed like he never quite managed. 

 

To be perfectly clear, it was not for lack of trying. The first couple of years after the war, he’d tried to move on, too. He joined the Aurors and became the Chief of the Extraction Squad, closed down Grimmauld Place and moved back into the manor at Godric’s Hollow, and dated Ginny with the intention of settling down. But by 2002, everything was falling apart. He thought protecting people’s lives was his calling, turned out he was so traumatized by the lives lost and by the sheer bureaucracy of it all. He thought living in the same place that his parents once lived would help him become just that bit closer to understanding them, but he felt so alone in that big place, without anyone by his side. Dating Ginny was supposed to fill that void inside of him, but they found themselves tearing each other apart when life, and work, and stress got between them. So yes, everything he did to try to attain a semblance of normalcy only served to make him feel more abnormal and more isolated.

 

Throughout it all, perhaps ironically, the one constant in his life was how unfailingly, unwillingly, “unwittingly” faithful the media presence had remained by his side. Should Harry Potter fail a mission, scowl at his girlfriend, walk out of the house, even so much as breath, the media was on it like a dog on bones. Sometimes, Harry wondered if things would be so terrible if the media had only just given him a little privacy, instead of constantly making him out to be their latest scoop.

 

* * *

 

 

By 2003, Harry had almost given up on himself. He quit the Aurors, moved into an apartment in Muggle London, and started his semi-hermit, semi-alcoholic lifestyle. Ron and Hermione, though, bless them, could never leave his pathetic arse alone, and when he couldn’t pull himself back up, they did. They brought him food, forced him outside, took him out drinking - poured life back into him, so to speak. It was then, during one of their bar-hopping sessions, that Harry discovered his inclination towards men. He realized that it didn’t matter whether it was men or women, he found them attractive regardless, and in Muggle London, where the three of them usually hung out, he had that freedom to explore. And explore he did. Harry never quite settled down with anyone else, but certainly not for lack of companions or attention.

 

It was in one of these bars that Harry Potter found himself chatting with Michael, a Muggle Englishman doing business in New York. The man worked at Wall Street, managing investment portfolios for his various customers, and it was from him that Harry learned all about hedge funds, venture capitalism, and angel investors. Harry certainly did not lack for money, so after a while, he started investing according to Michael’s advice. It turned out he had a particular knack for this kind of thing, and he very much enjoyed the thrill of victory when his investments turned profit. It was the adrenaline without fatal consequences, the rush without the fall, and he loved every single moment, because here was something that he was good at, without any association to his past, something that would not force him to relive his worst memories. 

 

In 2005, Harry co-founded Potter & Bauer Capital Management with Michael, whose shares he eventually bought out 9 months after that. In 2006, with Ron’s and Hermione’s blessing, he moved to New York to stay more connected to his work. The time zone was a bit of a hassle, but with International Portkeys, travelling was always going to be convenient. He visited quite regularly, and it was nice to be able to maintain a primary residence so removed from the British media’s scope of attention. Here in New York, he was just another businessperson - that anonymity pleased him to no ends. The profits he was turning, and the success stories of the companies he helped fund, pleased him, too.

 

Something in Harry Potter made him stay far, far away from property investment, although certainly not for lack of convincing, especially from his co-founder Michael, who eventually grew frustrated enough with the difference in their vision that he left the company altogether. Despite that, Harry’s instincts never wavered, and they did not led him astray. 2008 hit New York like a furious hurricane, and while all markets suffered, his company at least was not on the verge of bankruptcy like many others - including Michael’s most recent. Slowly but steadily, everything started to fall back into place, and 2010’s recent developments, especially in technology, has made Harry Potter very excited, indeed.

 

…but still bored out of his wits whenever he’s not neck-deep in work.

 

He would love to work all the time, but his personal secretary Diana (Magical, professional, _extremely_ capable, hired by none other than yours truly Hermione) has threatened that she would lock him out of his own office should he not take some time for himself this week and try to, as she put it earlier, “relax” - whatever that means. Harry Potter is always high-strung. But Diana Warnsworth is, first and foremost, very, very, very scary. 

 

Which leads to his current predicament, bored like a limp veggie, vegged out on his sundeck like a soggy potato chip, floating on his personal yacht, miles away from his beloved office…and absolutely going crazy. From boredom.

 

Maybe that’s why as soon as Harry Potter sees a vague shape which looks almost like an iceberg drifting towards the yacht, despite it being the middle of May in NYC and hence should not be a good time to see icebergs unless the Apocalypse has come early, the man shoots out of his chair, ignores all common senses, summons his ever-reliable Firebolt, and soars towards the object.

 

_“Holy Merlin”_ Harry thought _“it’s a bloke stuck inside an iceberg”._

 

Pulling out his wand, he lowers himself closer to the iceberg, and melts part of it very slowly. Underneath the layer of ice is a clear material that liquefies as soon as his magic touches it, leaving the man, dry and unconscious. Harry puts him lying down on the Firebolt and makes his way back.

 

* * *

 

 

_“Hell, hell, hell, my head hurts like a bitch. What in the fucking fuck happened?”_ is Howard Stark’s first thought as he comes to consciousness.

 

“…ey…hey…you’re awake now, that’s a relief. How are you feeling?” A warm, masculine voice asks him.

 

Howard opens his eyes, and is struck by how green the stranger’s eyes are. _“Like emeralds. Stunning”._

 

_“But what terrible sense of fashion. How…plebeian”_

 

_“Merlin he’s hot. But who even wears those stuffy tweed suits these days in America?”_

 

“Thank you, my man. If I may be so rude to ask, where am I?” Howard asks as he looks around. This man must be well-off, given the state of the room he’s in. And obviously not American, from the accent.

 

“No need for the formal speech, mate. We’re in New York, well, a couple of miles off-shore, but yes, New York”

 

“…alright. It’s a pleasure to meet you, then. I’m Howard. Howard Stark. And you are?”

 

“Harry. Harry Potter. Likewise”

**Author's Note:**

> So...how was it? Please leave some feedbacks <3


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